"GLITTERING 2000" Belgian acts revisiting glam classics (2000, PIAS, 941.0020.20)
Songs (click on the -icons
for a small audio-sample)
1. Das Pop "Tonight"
2. Arid "Killer Queen"
3. Arno "All the Young Dudes"
4. Marc Morgan "America"
5. Daan "Hospitality on Parade"
6. Soulwax "Children o/t revolution"
7. Mauro "Dynamite"
8. Praga Khan "Jean Genie"
9. Neven "Rocket Girl"
10. Ozark Henry "Suffragette City"
11. Kiss My Jazz "Cum on Feel the Noize"
12. Jeff Bodard "Get it On"
13. "De Mens "Do You Wanna Touch me"
14. Machiavel "The Faith Healer"
15. Sttellla "Poppa Joe"
Concept : Rudy Léonet
Sleeve : Phil van Duynen
My opinion
Garbage in, Garbage out ... is a principle that reigns in a lot of areas, but
not necessarily so in the arts. Thus a lot of ham past-date stuck onto pillars
did become an interesting and controversial work of art in Ghent, and thus a confrontation
of the songs from the british glamrock-era - not really the summum of good taste
or legendary songmaterial - and a selection of contemporary Belgian pop &
rock bands manages to provide some fireworks ...
Of course it is impossible that all contributions on "Glittering 2000
- Belgian acts revisiting glam classics" would be of a same quality,
given the range of talent in the musicians and given the range of quality in the
songmaterial (from David Essex to Bowie), but that's a critique that can be made
about almost all "tributes" or compilation-cd's that don't stick to
the "all 13 smash hits"-principle.
It was surprising to find out that some of the "big names" didn't live
up to their reputation. Thus Arid is much
too nice with Queen's "Killer Queen", Arno
much too weak with Mott The Hoople's "All The Young Dudes". The contribution
of Soulwax is inventive, but it is
the first version of Marc Bolan's "Children of the Revolution" that
dídn't give me a kick. De Mens
shows on Gary Glitter's "Do You wanna touch" why singing in Dutch can't
have been a career move back when they started, but the only available option.
It's a pity that the other way round, there are no surprises (acts of a lesser
reputation that give a strong performance, I mean) : Marc
Morgan & Vincent Venet are rather dull on David Essex's "America",
Jeff Bodart sings against his voice
on T.Rex's "Get It On", Neven
is running past itself in Elton John "Rocket Girl".
But the rest is more than OK : Ozark Henry
shines brightly in "Suffragette City" : the song was mangled quite drastically
and doesn't sound much like the exciting original, but the result is all the more
poignant and moving. Praga Khan has
put "Jean Genie" through a techno-blender, and can be pleased about
the powerful result. Das Pop demonstrates
that even cold sh*t can be turned into an exciting song worth a single, given
the right amount of enthusiasm (with "Tonight" of the Rubettes). And
Mauro (Pawlowski) on Mud's "Dynamite",
Daan on "Hospitality on Parade" of the
Sparks and Kiss My Jazz on Slade's
"Cum on feel the noiz" show what the good reputation of the contemporary
Belgian pop & rock bands is all about : inventiveness, lack of respect, and
joy in playing. A class of his own is the nutcase Sttellla
who gave "Poppa Joe" of Sweet a treatment that surely had it calling
for "Momma Joe".
All in all, that makes 7 fine tracks on a total of 14 (I won't say a thing about
the contribution of Machiavel, to
keep the peace). If it were the goal/opportunities-ratio of a soccer team, it
would be a guarantee for a European title, but as this is a compilation cd, it
isn't. But a game that sparkled, yes ...
And your opinion?
Did I get it all wrong, or was I spot-on ? Do you want to share your opinion about
this cd ? Send it in, and I'll put it up here !
This Album in the Press
- Peter Vantyghem in de Standaard : "Glittering 2000 has something
typically belgian : the best way to honour music you like is to deform it. It
is unimaginable that Zita Swoon would do a réal disco song, and that same
attitude reverberates from this cd. The opulent, exuberant glam gets deconstructed
to smaller, naked versions ... The result is that there is hardly anything kitschy
on this album, doesn't contain any costumes, men remain men".
- Surf-Inn : "Fifteen Belgian bands take on a glamrock cover. A nice
idea on paper, a wonderful cd in practice"
- JPS in Stage : "The fourty-something among us can relive this
rather bizarre period from their puberty thanks to these ... often rather wayward
version of the hits of the glittering seventies that are on this nice collection.
But beware : it's not all gold that shines!"
- Dirk Steenhaut in Metro (de Morgen) : "Sometimes ideas are more
fun on paper than in practice. Over half of the entries don't do anything useful
with the selected song."
Did you see a good (or bad) review of this album ? Tell
me about it !
Where to buy this CD ?
You can order this CD from a number of locations (prices researched on May
5, 2000, but nothing guarantees they still are the same when you read this).
The lowest price is in yellow, the highest in red. This price comparison doesn't
take things into account like deduction of shipping expenses when ordering more
than 1 cd, bonus points, differences in guarantees ... Shipping prices are those
for customers in Belgium.
Have you seen this record elsewhere on the net, do you own an online-CD-shop
with Belgian products in it, or if there's something wrong with my calculations
: let me know.
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